VA is launching a new outreach campaign to encourage all eligible Veterans to enroll in VA health care – including approximately 1 million unenrolled Veterans who served in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
This campaign will include text messages and emails directly to Veterans, public service announcements, paid advertising, and events.
VA is launching this campaign after reports of concerns from Veterans about health issues – including mental health challenges and thoughts of suicide – potentially related to repeated blasts and head trauma (low-level artillery blasts, IEDs, missile launches, heavy fire, and more). Since the first reporting about these concerns, VA researchers have been urgently studying this matter to learn more about the potential health impacts of blast exposure on Veterans.
Veterans enrolled in VA can access specialty screenings and services to address any health issues related to blast exposure. Importantly, Veterans who served in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and other specific locations are eligible for VA health care based on their deployments — they do not need to have any health conditions specifically associated with their service in order to be eligible for care.
While VA continues to urgently conduct research into the impact of blast exposure, VA and the entire Biden-Harris Administration encourage these Veterans – and all eligible Veterans – to apply for VA care today. Veterans who use VA health care have better health outcomes than non-enrolled Veterans, VA hospitals are dramatically outperforming non-VA hospitals, and VA health care is often more affordable than non-VA health care for Veterans. Additionally, 92% of Veteran patients currently report trusting VA outpatient health care – an all-time high.
“We take Veteran concerns about repeated blast exposure very seriously, and we are studying this matter urgently to learn more about potential health impacts,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “While we do that, we don’t want Veterans to wait – they should enroll in VA health care today to get full access to primary care, mental health care, regular screenings, specialty care, and more. That’s what this outreach effort is all about: getting Veterans in our care, because Veterans who come to VA are proven to do better.”
“VA aims to be the best, most accessible, and most affordable health system in America for Veterans, and we are constantly looking for ways to improve that care as science and research tells us about new concerns,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal, M.D. “The more Veterans who enroll, the more we can learn about the impact of blast exposure – and the better care we can ultimately provide those who served.”
